About Me

I am a lawyer in Melfort, Saskatchewan, Canada who enjoys reading, especially mysteries. Since 2000 I have been writing personal book reviews. This blog includes my reviews, information on and interviews with authors and descriptions of mystery bookstores I have visited. I strive to review all Saskatchewan mysteries. Other Canadian mysteries are listed under the Rest of Canada. As a lawyer I am always interested in legal mysteries. I have a separate page for legal mysteries. Occasionally my reviews of legal mysteries comment on the legal reality of the mystery. You can follow the progression of my favourite authors with up to 15 reviews. Each year I select my favourites in "Bill's Best of ----". As well as current reviews I am posting reviews from 2000 to 2011. Below my most recent couple of posts are the posts of Saskatchewan mysteries I have reviewed alphabetically by author. If you only want a sentence or two description of the book and my recommendation when deciding whether to read the book look at the bold portion of the review. If you would like to email me the link to my email is on the profile page.

Monday, November 30, 2015

Trinity Six by Charles Cumming

Trinity Six
by Charles Cumming – What mystery reader has not heard of the quintet of
English spies (Burgess, McLean, Philby, Cairncross and Blunt) who went to
Cambridge together in the 1930’s and then spied for Soviet Union. The note at
the start of Trinity Six says they
were described as the “Magnificent Five” within Russia. British intelligence
was devastated for a generation by their betrayals.

Yet were the Five the extent of treachery among the students
at Cambridge in the 1930’s? Was there a 6th spy who has never been
identified? Many in real life have thought there was another spy. This fall
Andrew Lownie in Stalin’s Englishman: The
Lives of Guy Burgess states physicist Wilfrid Mann was the 6th
spy. Cumming turns to fiction to find the 6th man.

In Trinity Six Sam
Gaddis is an unlikely spy hunter. He is a 43 year old academic teaching Russian
history at University College London. He becomes involved in espionage for the
simplest of reasons. He needs money. Income tax authorities have levied a claim
over 21,000 pounds. His ex-wife is seeking thousands more for the education of
their daughter, Min, in Spain. He does not earn enough to meet his obligations.

Yet he does not become a spy. With writing and research his
only marketable skills he casts about for a story for a popular non-fiction
book. Rumours reach him that there was a 6th man. It would be an
easy sale if he can identify a 6th man.

His friend, Charlotte Berg, wants him to join her in writing
about the hidden spy. He is tempted. Before he has made his decision Charlotte
dies of an apparent heart attack. Readers know she was actually poisoned by the
Russian FSB.

As Gaddis probes her research files he cannot find her
sources. A dogged researcher he checks calendars and phone records. He finds a
couple of leads and pursues the threads.

Gaddis believes he is onto a story when he learns British
Intelligence faked the death of a British diplomat shortly after Communism
collapsed. Why would they resort to such extreme measures?

While it is clear why British Intelligence would not want
the 6th man to be identified there is no clear motive for Russian
intelligence to take violent action to prevent discovery.

Gaddis is an amateur in the professional world of espionage
feeling his way through spy craft and trying not to get killed.

Trinity Six is far
from American thrillers with their double digit body counts though there are
violent scenes.

Within the plot there are crosses and double crosses and
triple crosses. There are enough crosses to leave everyone paranoid about who
can be trusted.

I was reminded of the real life Eddie Chapman in Zig Zag by Ben Macintyre. Chapman is at
least a double agent convincing both British and German intelligence that he is
spying for them.

Russian head of state in the book, Sergei Platov, is a
thinly disguised Vladimir Putin. Cumming follows the traditional approach of
creating a character like Putin but with just enough difference. Jason Matthews
in Palace of Treason actually named
Putin. I expect the different approaches reflect different libel laws between
America and England.

While the ending is credible it does not have the bleak
conclusion of most John LeCarré espionage novels.

6 comments:

I've heard very good things about this one, Bill, and I'm glad you enjoyed it. I prefer espionage books to have intelligent plots and characters, as this one seems to, and not go for the high body count. And as you say, this case been a source of discussion and speculation for a long time, so it's an interesting premise.

I like spy fiction a lot and I have always been interested in the Cambridge spies, Bill, but this one I found confusing. Probably just me not understanding the plot. I will be trying more by Cumming though, someday.